My community service hours were spent on multiple projects around the Pawnee County community. I helped with Santa Fe Trail Days, 4th of July activities, and Pluto Putt Putt. I felt this Summer as if I were the community assistant, I was a little bit of help all over the place but I was happy to do it.
My first three hours of community service were spent at the Larned State Theater during Santa Fe Trail Days. I have helped many times in the past but if you don’t know much about this little theater, prepare to be impressed. The State Theater sat vacant for the first half of my life. It had a beautiful marquee, always blank, and empty ratty seats inside. I’d been in once to watch cancan girls on the stage during a town celebration. The walls were yellow with movie reels and Mickey Mouse characters painted along the walls. I wish I knew who came along to save the poor thing but what I do know is that Larned has banded together as a community and helped remodel the theater into something spectacular. The Theater has a committee who makes decisions, tracks finances, and keeps everything in shape, but the entire theater is ran by volunteers. Groups from the community whether it be a church, 4-H club, or just a family wanting to help, are what keep that theater open Friday, Saturday, and Sunday nights. The Theater raised enough money off of donations and consumers to replace our old projector with a shiny new digital one, we also got nice new seats. Larned has really come together to help support this Theater and I think it is quite an amazing thing. If you’re ever in town it’s a great activity for a weekend night!
https://www.facebook.com/pages/State-Theatre-Larned-Kansas/273849419335
My next four hours of community service were spent helping with Larneds 33rd Annual 4th of July run/walk. We packaged shirts, entered runner information into the computer and onto their race day bibs a couple nights before the race. On race day I helped pass out numbers to runners who did not pre-register. I took photos of the races and directed the finished runners in order to the scribes at the end of the race. This was a fun community service project, although I was wishing I could have ran in the race. Larned had a 5K, 10K, and also a triathlon. We had nearly 100 runners bright and early July 4th morning.
My last three hours of community service will be spent helping paint the Pluto Putt Putt golf course in Burdett. If you aren’t aware- Burdett (my hometown) is the boyhood home of Clyde Tombaugh, the man who discovered Pluto. We have a great mini golf course at the park in Burdett that has become run down over the years and the Burdett PRIDE committee has decided to revamp the course. It is still a work in progress but it is looking great! I am excited about this project because I get to use my creativity to paint the old lighthouse into a rocketship.
https://wekan.kanstarter.com/projects/96/
Community Service is a great opportunity to get experience doing a number of things and also a great opportunity to help others. I enjoy volunteering and plan to look for volunteer work in Hays when I go back to school. Volunteering is a feel-good activity that can really help someone in need and I think the fact that Ogallala Commons asks for ten hours of service from every intern is a wonderful idea.
